The present invention relates generally to systems and methods for enabling vehicles to closely follow one another safely using automatic or partially automatic control.
In recent years significant strides have been made in the fields of autonomous and semi-autonomous vehicles. One segment of vehicle automation relates to vehicular convoying systems that enable vehicles to follow closely together in a safe, efficient and convenient manner. Following closely behind another vehicle has significant fuel savings benefits, but is generally unsafe when done manually by the driver. One type of vehicle convoying system is sometimes referred to as vehicle platooning systems in which a second, and potentially additional, vehicle(s) is/are autonomously or semi-autonomously controlled to closely follow a lead vehicle in a safe manner.
In vehicle platooning and convoying systems an understanding of the distance between the vehicles is a very important control parameter and multiple different independent mechanisms may be used to determine the distance between vehicles. These may include radar systems, transmitting absolute or relative position data between vehicles (e.g., GPS or other GNSS data), LIDAR systems, cameras, etc. A challenge that occurs when using radar in platooning type applications is that the partner vehicle must be reliably identified from a potentially ambiguous set of radar reflections and tracked under constantly changing conditions. The present application describes techniques for identifying and tracking specific vehicles based on vehicle radar data that are well suited for platooning, convoying and other autonomous or semi-autonomous driving applications.